Renegade Rescue
by PadawanLilia
Summary: This is an old fic written by my sister. Self-exiled from the capital planet of her galaxy, which is under attack, Amarav and her sisters and crew embark on a mission to find bostanite, a mineral that will boost the durability of her Starship's shields. She is to bring back a good amount to her mother the Queen, if at all possible. And that's just what she might find trouble doing.
1. Chapter One: The Mission

**Troubled Thoughts**

It had been a week since they had left the Milky Way galaxy, and were soon to be entering the Amrandian one. Captain Amarav lay on her bed in her room, in her spaceship. True to her nature, she was bored. They were heading to Hitena, and she knew that it was a planet ruled by Sean's father. That meant Sean could show up anytime. But they had to risk it. They needed the bostanite. The Amrandians would not suspect that they would dare collect the Hitenan bostanite right from under their noses.

She heard a knock on her door. "Captain!" came a young man's voice.

"Come in," she called. The door slid into the wall. Her room's computer was programmed to respond to 'Come in' with the same function as 'Open' ...to open the door.

She sat up and swung her legs over the side.

"What is it, Trevor?" she sighed.

"Are— are you all right, Amarav?" Trevor stepped inside and walked up to her. "This is going to be a dangerous mission."

"For all of us, Trevor. It's always been that way. As long as Sean's chasing us, chasing ME, there's no telling what will happen."

"Janice says we're almost there," Trevor said, in a graver tone.

"Hitena?" Amarav asked, feeling adventurous yet apprehensive.

"Yes."

"Hm..." she sighed, frowning.

"I hope it won't be too difficult, Amarav, for your sake," Trevor smiled sadly, putting a hand on his cousin's shoulder. "I don't mind battling, since my dad's in charge of the army and I'm not too bad of a weapons engineer, but...I WOULD like a change of political weather." Trevor sighed.

"Me too. Just... peace. For once," Amarav leaned back on a pillow.

Trevor nodded.

Contrary to their wishes, Janice's voice came over the intercom: "WE'VE ARRIVED AT HITENA. AMARAV AND MAIN DECK STAFF PLEASE REPORT TO MAIN DECK."

Trevor looked up and sighed. "So much for peace."

"It's all right." she stood.

Trevor bowed slightly.

"Let's go." the eighteen-year-old Captain of the StarShip 2000 ordered, treading swiftly toward the door.

The cousins soon reached the main deck control room, a bright and roomy place with a large viewscreen showing an animated replica of the Amrandian solar system. The StarShip 2000, being the primary vehicle in the 2000 class of universal traveling, and now also the princesses' main ship for travel, had the classic style with all the function. The ship even had a landing pad for smaller ships to land, dock, take off, and whatnot. The size of the ship did not hinder speed. In fact, it gave extra momentum when at high speeds.

Walking into the room, they saw Janice waving her arm vaguely at the oval shaped table in the middle of the room, where a laminated paper lay covering the entire table. It bore realistic pencil drawings of the orbits of the eighteen planets of Amrandia. The planets were Amrandia, Enstacia, Vav Serenia, Telthurstia, Rakaena, Ovirna, Thadia, Dathella, Ignea, Idurose, Farstel, Wyrdell, Traena, Estavine, Meschae, Kolir, Lelinon, and their obvious destination: Hitena.

"The problem IS," Janice was saying, projecting her voice to carry through the entire room and beyond, even though that wasn't necessary, "how exactly do we approach this? We could send down a search party, or if that's not cautious enough, since we don't know exactly what Amrandian security is like down there, we could send two people, one to call for help if the other is captured. But, then we'd have to face negotiating for their release, and we know all Amrandians are naturally averse to negotiating. They prefer to fight. And that's just what we're trying to avoid. So... I'd want there to be enough party members to put up a fight on the surface so nobody gets captured."

"Why can't I go by myself?" Amarav said, annoyed.

"Because it's too likely that you will be captured." Janice replied. "Now..."

"Captured? I have superpowers! I can't be 'captured'!" she scoffed.

"Amanda, just listen. Please. Okay? I was saying—" she turned to the others.

Amarav rolled her eyes. She hated it when Janice acted like the superior. Suddenly she had a thought, as she watched Blake and the others listening intently to what Janice was saying. She COULD go by herself. She didn't have to tell anyone. No one could stop her then.

"I'm the Captain, aren't I?" she thought a bit pridefully to herself. "I'm the one in control here."

And above all that, she had superpowers. Just go get the bostanite, come back with it, and fly the StarShip 2000 home. Easy as numberry pie.

She was decided. Once everything had settled down in the main deck, she'd slip off to the airlock exit and get away fast. She would return victorious with the precious mineral in hand, or so she thought.

Awhile later, Janice realized she was missing. She had taken her radio communicator, though. That was good.

"I'd better comm her," she thought. Checking their coordinates, she figured that Amarav had probably left while they were in orbit nearest the southern region of the planet. "The crew should know about this."

Calling together the crew for the second time that day, she informed them of the situation.

"Amarav is missing, guys. And that can mean only one thing. She's gone down to the planet's surface to try to find the bostanite herself."

Amarav walked through the thick jungle, wishing she could fly but not wanting to risk missing the bostanite deposits hidden under the surface in certain parts of the planet.

She perused the ground carefully every few feet, and suddenly saw a dull silvery gleam of what she was sure was bostanite. Getting on her hands and knees, she brushed some of the dirt away and tried to pull the bostanite out of the ground with her gloved hands.

While she was distracted, an Amrandian soldier with the Hitenan insignia on his shoulder happened to walk up behind her and started, surprised. Recognizing her as the princess of Farlovelle, he knew this was the one person Prince Sean most wanted captured. Thinking of an upgrade from his current rank, he quietly aimed his freeze gun at her.

"We NEED to send someone to look for her!" Janice said. "I don't want to be anywhere near the Amrandians just as much as you do, but I'm not entirely sure that Amarav is smart enough to keep the locals off her trail!"

"We can't afford to lose anyone else," said the advisor, Blake. "We won't send lone pilots down to that...AMRANDIAN jungle."

"But what will we do? Amarav's down there!" cried Rosalee, Amarav and Janice's younger sister.

"Let's try contacting her again," suggested Sophia.

"But she hasn't responded any of the other times we contacted her," Rosalee snapped. The 8-year-old sighed in frustration and stormed out of the room.

Janice looked over her shoulder, a little worried about Rosie's angry reaction but trying to concentrate on her missing sister.

 _ **Renegade Rescue**_

 _by Jane Pinegrove_

 **Preface**

This is actually my sister's continuation of my WordGirl story Secret Identity: Safe, Or Not. However, it is still a good fanfic by itself, if you have no idea what WordGirl is. (But if you do, and even if you didn't, it would probably be better to read the first one first.)

My sister wrote all of it. But she no longer writes fanfictions.

However, I DID originally invent the StarShip 2000, the evil Prince Underwood, and my own OC, Captain Amarav. She just built off my original ideas by developing Prince Sean's character a little more, and adding several crew members to my StarShip 2000. (and making up this adventure of it! What fun!)

 _ **Renegade Rescue**_

 _a Star Wars story_

Disclaimer: some characters, places, ideas, etc. are copyrighted to Lucasfilm and George Lucas. Captain Amarav, the StarShip 2000 and its crew, Prince Underwood and the whole idea of Amrandia belong to my sister (and me! I helped!). Some other things also may, (including the whole plot of this story!) but those are the main things.

 **Chapter Index**

One: The Mission

Two: On Hitena's Surface

Three: The Amrandian Base

Four: A Heroine's Demise

Five: The Groups Meet Again

Six: Search and... Rescue?

Seven: Threatened by the Truth

Eight: No Objections?

Nine: Hesitations

Ten: And That is That (Wrap Up)

 **Chapter One: The Mission**

"Captain Amarav, come in, Captain Amarav," CoCapJanice spoke into her communicator. This had been an already very frustrating mission for her, and now that her own captain was down on one of the treacherous planets of Amrandia, there was no telling what might happen.

"Captain Amarav, if you please, we've already lost several important pilots on this mission. We do not need to lose our own captain. Please return to the StarShip 2000, Captain," pleaded the CoCaptain's assistant, Andrea.

The captain did not respond.

"Probably just ignoring us..." muttered one of the crew.

"On the contrary, the captain may be in trouble," Sophia interjected. "We should send a search party into the southern region of the planet."

"Not quite yet," returned CoCapJanice. She was the captain's faithful assistant and held the patience of every crew member.

All except one, that is.

Little did the Captain or CoCaptain know, Junior CoCaptain Rosalee left the StarShip 2000 for the planet Hitena.

And what a surprise was in store for her.

Since the reduced threat of the Imperial army and the technical abolishment of the Dark Side, Luke Skywalker and his friends were taking a break on his home planet Tatooine.

It was a slightly warm afternoon there. Han was busy at his ship along with R2 and Chewie. Suddenly Luke appeared.

"Making improvements?"

"Well, yeah. Chewie, could you hand me the screwdriver?"

The Wookiee moaned something and dropped the screwdriver into the hand poking out of a compartment beneath the floorboard.

R2 excitedly beeped. Out of fright or not was not clear.

"What's that?" called the technician.

The droid replied with a longer string of excited-sounding beeps.

"Who?"

"I believe he already said it was an unknown caller, sir," came a third voice.

"Threepio, what ARE you doing up here?" asked Solo sounding half-bored and half-annoyed.

"I was just—"

"He followed me in, Han," Luke added as he pressed a button on the dash to put the call on speakerphone. "Hello?"

"Han Solo?" came a female voice.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" he responded, with a half-raised eyebrow.

"It's Janice."

A moment's pause.

"Janice _who_?"

"Janice WHO needs your and Luke's help in a dangerous predicament."

"Why us?"

"You're the only help we can think of. Besides, _Uncle_ , we'll need a Jedi." Then, she added, as if an afterthought: "Oh, and a couple of cute droids."

"What did she say?" C-3PO asked R2-D2.

R2 beeped.

" _Uncle?"_

"Remember me, Janice, your niece?"

Han seemed a bit reluctant to the question at first. But he finally replied with a nonchalant "Yeah."

"Okay then, you should know who you're dealing with. Is Luke there?"

"I'm here."

"I need your guys' help. Capt— Amarav's been kidnapped by locals in allegiance to the Imperial army, and my crew's way too small to take them alone. You see, Amrandians have Imperial defense systems. You and all the other Rebel forces are the only others we can count on."

Momentary silence. Crickets seemed to chirp.

"Send us an army, or you four can come alone."

This comment seemed to upset Chewie.

"Of course you can come too, Chewbacca," consoled C-3PO hastily.

Luke and Han exchanged glances, and R2 beeped quizzically.

"I've been bored these last few days," Luke commented optimistically.

"Sounds fine," Han finally said. "We'll come ASAP."

"Perfect," the CoCaptain finished. "We won't forget this. Good luck."

The call turned to dial tone and Luke pushed a button to end it.

"What about Leia?" wondered Solo. "We can't just leave her here. What if—"

"She doesn't HAVE to go and it probably won't matter even if she does tag along."

"But what if it DOES matter?"

"If you don't mind, sir, the odds that Princess Leia is safer here than on the mission are 618 to 1," C-3PO put in.

"Based on what, huh?" questioned Han.

After not earning a reply, he seemed to think this over for a moment. Then he climbed into the driver's seat. "All right, but you should probably let her know where we're going first."

Luke smiled weakly and exited the ship. Presently, Chewie moaned.

"Don't worry, buddy, you're coming," Han said, turning to the Wookiee.

After a small moment of silence, R2-D2 removed his small metal limb from the connection in the wall and started beeping. Han looked quizzical for a second.

"He says he tracked the call to the planet Hitena, one of the eighteen planets that make up Amrandia," confirmed C-3PO.

Han turned to the control panels and started pressing buttons. "Alright, setting coordinates to the planet Hitena."

Chewie seated himself in the passenger seat and buckled in.

"Sir, shouldn't we wait for Master Luke?" asked a worried 3PO.

Solo looked annoyed.

"That's what I'm doing, so... chill out."

A moment passed where R2 beeped to his pal, 3PO looked a little squeamish, Chewie let out a moan, and Han wouldn't keep his fingers off the controls. Finally, Luke entered.

"Are we ready?" he asked with an adventurous smile.

"You bet," answered the pilot, somewhat reluctantly.

"Oh, Artoo, I don't know about this," said 3PO. The droid only replied with a string of low beeps.

The ship took off with an exceptional start.

"CoCaptain, are you sure we should call them for aid?" one of the crew asked. "I mean, we don't really—"

"No, no no no of course we do. I've been wanting to see them again myself."

A disgruntled, stuffy silence seemed to have been boxed in the room.

"There they are," said Luke, pointing out the window to the StarShip 2000.

"I'll contact them," Han replied, redialing on the control panel.

"Greetings, Uncle," Janice welcomed. "And Luke and Artoo and Threepio. Am I forgetting someone?"

Chewie replied quickly, hovering near the speakerphone.

"Ah, Chewie, my memory's bad. I apologize."

"So, your captain's on Hitena?" inquired Skywalker.

"Yes, the southern side from where we hover."

"All right, we'll be there."

"Thanks a lot." "It's not a big deal."

The call ended shortly.

The first thing Janice said was: "Prepare my capsule."


	2. Chapter Two: On Hitena's Surface

**Chapter Two: On Hitena's Surface**

It was not too difficult to get onto Hitena's surface. Of course, it would have been a miracle if they hadn't smashed some vines in the process. But what was more difficult was crossing the thick jungle habitat. There were trees grown so close together, no one could see more than a foot ahead before they had to clear more trees out of the way.

They proceeded cautiously through the jungle. CapAmarav probably was ambushed in all the mess, Luke didn't wonder. But it's not too difficult a job to clear jungle plants when you have a lightsaber handy.

"What's that?" Han suddenly whispered. All five of them froze, but a rustling sound was still audible somewhere nearby. R2 found the source of the noise and beeped a little.

"What is it, Artoo?" asked Skywalker, not seeming alarmed at all.

Regardless of what was causing the noise, it started to come through the jungle brush. C-3PO stepped back from R2 and yelped. If he hadn't been a droid, he might have covered his eyes. But any robot would know that would be a silly thing to do. Luke already had his lightsaber drawn, and threatening was not necessary. R2 started beeping in fear and turning his head away from the noise.

"What's he saying?" Han asked impatiently. 3PO didn't seem to hear.

Suddenly the thing popped out of the bushes. R2 shrieked. Luke almost swung his saber, just from impulse, but stopped at the sight. It was a little girl, who looked to be about eleven; she had light brown hair that flowed just past her shoulders and a warm, creamy-white complexion. She was wearing the StarShip 2000 uniform, a black and orange suit not unlike that of a mechanic. The girl first noticed R2-D2, apparently, as she patted him on the top and said in a sweet, comforting voice: "It's okay, Artoo. You were skeered of me, weren't you? It's alright. It's just me, Rosie." R2 emitted a sound that resembled, altogether too closely, a sigh of relief, then started beeping softly. Then she started petting it. "What are you doing out here?" At that, R2 started beeping with a little more momentum, and the girl looked up and noticed the others. "Hi Uncle Han," she said. Luke looked quizzical.

"Why, it's only a little girl," noted C-3PO at last. "What was I afraid of?"

Rosalee smiled at him, but the others looked bored and R2 beeped to him in a way that sounded with a little contempt.

"Awh! You have no right! You were scared too, remember?"

"Who wouldn't be on this dreadful planet?" stuck in the girl.

"Well, we better get moving," said Skywalker, looking back at the trail of chopped jungle vines. "The locals should be on our trail any minute now."

"And we have another pack member," chimed Solo. "Hopefully we won't make the same mistake as the Captain."

At this, Rosie and Luke exchanged solemn glances and headed on.

Meanwhile, Janice was in her space capsule and was heading straight for, as the tracking device directed, the southern jungle of Hitena. The planet was nearly all jungle except for the many rivers that irrigated the massive greenness.

Landing in a similar fashion as the other group, the CoCaptain made her way through thick jungle vines. "Wow, this is thicker than Nool on Delta Centauri," she muttered grumpily as she drew her blade. It wasn't near as effective as a lightsaber, and she found herself becoming frustrated with the antiquated weapon. Finally, she shoved it back into its sheath, and pulled from her belt a small, cylindrical, metallic object. Holding it with an unfamiliar awkwardness, she pressed a button on it that caused it to project a long, blue laser beam from one end.

It was a lightsaber.

She used the renowned weapon to cut her way through the jungle. Taking a quick glance at her GPS wristwatch, she noticed it showed four life forms heading her way, and not far off either. Thinking quickly, she started asking her computer questions.

"How far away?"

"Eleven feet."

"Race?"

"Three human, one Wookiee."

Janice grinned. "Yes!"

She hurried forward through the vines, reaching the group only in moments. She was met with the jolting sensation of another lightsaber clashing against hers.

The two holding lightsabers stood startled at each other for several seconds, until Janice retracted hers and said in a quiet voice: "It's just me."

Luke lowered his saber and Janice thought she saw him roll his eyes. She glanced around her and caught sight of Rosie.

"Rosie, what are you doing here? Do you want to be killed?"

Rosie looked down. "I was looking for Amarav."

Janice decided against a lecture and turned to the others. She gave a friendly smile to Solo and an even friendlier one to Skywalker.

"Thank goodness I've found you," she said quietly. "But where's Leia?" she asked curiously, her voice rising in pitch.

"Oh, we left her back at Tatooine," replied Luke, sounding casual. "No sense in taking her on a dangerous mission when she could just stay in safety."

Janice nodded her agreement. Then she directed the conversation to the mission:

"I know where the Captain is."

"Where is he?" asked Luke quickly.

"Excuse me, but 'HE' is not a HE. SHE is my SISTER, and POSSIBLY even best friend." As she said this, she looked him directly in the eye as if she did not care if he was a Jedi or not.

Luke felt awkward for a moment, but no one noticed this. Being rebuked by a teen girl was humiliating enough, not that it was his fault. How could he have known? He'd never even heard of a female captain, not in this galaxy...

They continued along and found a path which led to the base.

"So," Luke asked Rosalee, "how old are you? Twelve?" He guessed high so as not to insult her if she was older than he thought.

"I'm eight," she said with a cute smirk. She got a little kick out of someone thinking she was four years older than she actually was.

Luke's first guess was two years off.

"And I'm seventeen," piped Janice. "We've been searching the galaxy for months now, looking for a special mineral called bostanite, which will greatly increase the durability of our shields and improve performance," continued the CoCaptain. "Word is that there are many deposits of it, though in small quantities, on this planet, so it was our next stop."

Han listened with interest, but Luke found himself bored with the conversation.

"You see, bostanite is a very unstable mineral. The Captain has been the only crew member to even lay eyes on it. She requested to go alone, and, however brave she may be, she's still a thin teenager who can't think straight in an emergency situation. We tried to persuade her to let us come, but she wouldn't have it and sneaked off the ship. I think it was partly my fault. I was a little hard on her when she got sidetracked on the last planet... Earth in fact. I thought she must've gone mad when she tried to become a super villain."

"Mm hm," nodded Luke, without even realizing what he was agreeing to.

Han looked absorbed in what she was saying. "So you think you'll be able to get this bota—"

"BOStanite," corrected Janice. "We could be standing on some right now."

At this remark, C-3PO halted his walk, lifted one foot and stared hard at the ground. R2-D2 turned to him and beeped hastily.

"Artoo says there is a small deposit of bostanite somewhere nearby," informed the droid, who had been strangely silent throughout Janice's whole conversation.

Janice nearly smiled at him even though it was really R2 who had made the discovery. "Good work, Artoo."

"But this shouldn't be stopping us from our main mission," blurted Luke, annoyed. "Rescue the Captain." The group continued to walk down the path, but Janice stopped a moment. Which was more important? Rescue her sister, or finish a mission she'd been wanting to for months?

Someone suddenly grabbed her and pulled her from the path.

"Janice!" cried Rosalee. They all looked back.

"Oh no," said 3PO, shaking his head slightly.

R2 beeped excitedly and Chewie growled in fear.

"Watch out," said Luke. "There could be more of them."

Everyone was quiet for a few moments. The eerie silence was quite unbearable, but any sound, they feared, may have been deadly.

All of a sudden, Luke dashed into the vines. He swept his way quickly through the jungle until he reached an immense, concrete-gray building, almost as tall as a football field is long. Luke stood, gawking a moment, when he was abruptly dashed out of his thoughts by an impeding voice.

"Hey, you! Who are you?! What are you doing here?" inquired an armed guard, pointing a blaster at him.

Luke quickly glanced his direction and hid a smirk, thinking of what he was about to do. "I have important business here. You will let me into the building."


	3. Chapter Three: The Amrandian Base

**Chapter Three: The Amrandian Base**

A gloved hand was clamped over her mouth. Janice found it hard to breathe as whoever was hauling her scuffled into the dark hallways of the Amrandian base. From her angle, she could see nothing of the man's features, only his black uniform that told her he was a soldier. And a strong one, at that, to be able to carry her on his shoulder the whole way through. Then he let go of her face and shifted her a bit to adjust the weight.

Janice took the opportunity to flip backward, behind him, out of his grasp, bounce to her feet off the palms of her hands, and strike the man under the chin.

He sagged to the floor and lay limp.

The princess fixed her hair promptly, regarding the man a moment, with an air of contempt. Then she turned back the way they had come.

A steel wall.

" _That's odd,"_ she thought. _"I could have sworn we just walked right through there."_

Then she turned around to gaze into the darkness.

"Han! The outside area is clear!" Luke called into his radio. "Get over here and help me out!"

"Luke, I'm coming!" Han shouted back into his communicator. He quickly turned to Chewie. "Stay here with them," he said, pointing at the other three. Chewie approved, and Han darted off to help Luke. Rosie seemed a little frightened, so R2 whistled reassuringly to her. Chewie stood guard while C-3PO panicked.

Rosie paced by R2 back and forth.

"There's got to be SOME way we can help them," she pondered.

"I really think we should stay here," crossed 3PO. "Odds are it is safer here than in that prison."

Rosie almost wished there was someone who could think of something inventive. She glanced at him curiously.

"What ARE the odds?"

"Between 140 and 163 to one, depending on guard hours and—"

"As far as I know, they guard the base twenty-four seven."

It satisfied her dark side to see 3PO a little more distressed. _"Janice would kill me for that,"_ she thought. Then her mind strayed back to Janice. What had become of her? Rosie almost shed a tear, but she brushed it away. Crying is not fitting behavior for a Junior CoCaptain, possibly soon-to-be Captain, if both her sisters were out of commission. But she tried not to think about that.

Luke and Han tried hard to stay together, but this proved difficult as Amrandians also seem to like maze-style corridors. Each found himself wandering alone in unfamiliar territory, Han with only a blaster in self-defense. Not a soul was in sight.

Luke stumbled into a dead end.

"Han, where are you?"

"That's what I was wondering."

Luke sighed and banged his head on the wall. It sounded, not thick, but thin and hollow.

"Gah!"

He pulled out his lightsaber, and, with one flick, there was a gaping hole in the wall, revealing a secret entrance.

"Han..."

Rosie continued pacing back and forth until R2 beeped loudly.

"What is it, Artoo?" she asked.

"Artoo says we are nearer to the bostanite now than we were before," translated 3PO.

"Great idea, Artoo!" congratulated the Junior CoCaptain. "We can help them and stay here all at the same time!"

"But, how would we obtain the mineral?" worried 3PO. "Janice said that it was highly unstable, which means it could—"

"Which means that we'll need a special container for it," Rosie pushed in. "You got anything, R2?" she asked with a friendly pat.

R2 beeped shortly. A metal plate slid underneath his top, and a bluish, tinted cylinder poked out.

"Cool!"

Then from his side projected something that resembled a metal detector. R2 strolled around them as the beeping from the device grew louder and faster. Finally, R2 paused, retracted the detector, and started a whirring noise that came from beneath him. Immediately he began to sink into the ground. Just as the ground was level with himself, he stopped, as did the whirring, and pushed the container with a mechanical arm into the side of the ditch, pulling it out. Then his legs grew suddenly taller and he pushed himself out of the hole, rolling back to ground level and victoriously presenting the container of silvery material to the Junior CoCaptain.

"You're something else, R2," said Rosie sweetly. "You better keep that in there," she said after a pause, pointing to the space from which the container came. R2 whistled promptly and quickly complied.

Luke wandered alone through the secret passage. He held a green, flickering lightsaber in one hand and the other dangled pointlessly at his side.

The walls of the base were steel, straight, and boring. Luke wondered why he couldn't find anyone. And the only audible noises were that of his own footsteps and whizzing weapon, which only made the place twice as creepy.

Without much thought, Luke glanced at the ceiling. It was not plain and boring like the walls. There were holes, big enough to slip a pencil through, lined evenly down the corridor, about two feet apart. Every tenth or so hole was a slit that spanned the whole ceiling. Luke marveled at what they might be used for until it was too late.

Steel bars came down from the slits in the ceiling, trapping him between two. A thousand alarms rang at once, their piercing echoes almost deafening. In spite, he thought he heard a female voice cry out for help further down the corridor.

"Janice?"

"Luke, I know that's you. Your lightsaber can cut the bars! I can't reach mine!"

Before he could respond, troops came storming down from Janice's end of the corridor.

"Luke! Help!"

Luke did not respond but he slashed the now seemingly thin steel bars left and right, reaching Janice just before the guards. She was pinned to the ground between two bars, lying flat. Her lightsaber was turned off and lying a foot beyond her reach.

Luke quickly released her from this hold and she grabbed her lightsaber.

"Thanks," she said briefly.

Luke was too focused to notice. Before you could count to three he had pushed back half the Amrandians, using the force, as he dodged their stun lasers. He was holding the onslaught of struggling guards in place, when he turned to Janice, beside him, cringing with worry and holding her face in both hands.

"What?" he asked her, as if nothing was wrong.

She opened her mouth to speak, but what came out changed from a reply to an alarmed cry.

Luke froze in front of her and became as still as a statue.

It immediately registered with Janice that, while Luke was distracted, one of the guards' stun blasts had come through his force barrier. She glanced anxiously in their direction.

"Luke? What's going on?" immediately Han asked through Luke's speaker, as if he had sensed something wrong.

"Han!" Janice yelled back, glancing sideways at the quickly recovering guards. "Do you know how to get out from where you are?"

"I think so..."

"Well, try to get out. Luke's down, and there's no telling how long it'll take to get to the center of this prison."

Han sounded appalled. "Luke is _down_?"

"Yes. Stun gun."

"Oh, I see."

"Hurry up!"

At this the guards had almost reached her. She took her lightsaber out of her hilt and turned it on, its bright blue hue reflecting on the metal walls around her. She began slashing the guards coming at her, with trained speed.

But she was no warrior, so, slowly and surely, they were gaining ground. Janice fought hard and barely avoided a few laser freeze blasts, but she could not hold off an army, even when they were in a small passage way.

Yet she had hope. The slain guards were starting to block their path.

It was then that she saw her only chance. She grabbed ahold of Luke's wrist (even though he could not move, she could move HIM) and began to pull him, on his feet, towards the end of the hall.

Luke, his only disability being the lack of muscle coordination, watched Janice, a bit troubled. His dominating thought was what would happen if Janice went down.

Then it happened. In her effort to pull him to safety, Janice was hit.

But not with a freeze gun.


	4. Chapter Four: A Heroine's Demise

**Chapter Four: A Heroine's Demise**

Janice immediately cried out. A dark, masked figure stood at the entrance of the hallway. His manner was reminiscent of Darth Vader, but he was certainly not of that sort.

He had just thrown something at Janice. From the sound of the device, Janice figured it was a sticky bomb. She grabbed at it and tried to reach it, but she couldn't. It was small and thin and stuck at the center of her back.

The CoCaptain panicked. She rarely panicked, but she was in a state of alarm. What could she do?

Hesitating momentarily, she noticed Luke starting to move slightly. Wondering if this was just her imagination, she continued to pull him toward the exit.

Toward the dark figure.

"Your effort is valiant, but futile."

The deep voice echoed through the corridor walls. It had come from the masked man.

Janice did not speak. The mere sound of a voice like that had set her off. The thundering of the storming guards faded away. The courage she gained from her effort for Luke died down. Now, it seemed she was alone in a cage with the evil form.

Regaining her senses and plucking up a stash of courage, Janice talked back.

"Who are you?"

The man laughed scornfully. He was obviously humanoid; most likely, Amrandian.

"I am a man of many things, child."

"Get out of my way," ordered Janice, a waver in her voice giving her fear away as she stood her ground before the exit.

"Not likely. You see, _child_ , that device connected to you is about to, er, let me put it this way: turn off your nervous system. As soon as I press this button" he holds up a remote "it will implant a needle in your spine and tell your brain to shut down."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" yelled a voice from behind him. It was Han Solo, pointing at him a blaster that was firing away.

The masked Amrandian didn't budge except to laugh and press the button on the remote anyway.

"NO!" Janice screamed shrilly. She crumpled to the ground at the feet of the Amrandian, who thought it quite funny.

Outside, Junior CoCaptain Rosalee grew wary and somewhat impatient.

"This is so boring. Can't we go inside and help them?"

R2 beeped, but Chewie didn't think it was such a good idea. Or maybe he did?

Rosie grunted. "Oh, I remember. There's no one here that can speak plain English."

C-3PO, who had been standing quietly next to the other robot, immediately started. "Actually—" he began to say. But with a smirk from the Jr. CoCap, he knew she was just teasing him again. So he sat back down.

Rustling from the brush alarmed all four suddenly.

Rosalee had her hand on her hilt. It was Starship 2000 protocol to always carry a hand weapon.

R2 beeped and C-3PO quickly spoke. "It is only Han Solo."

Rest assured, the expected arrival appeared, panting and carrying no weapon.

"Janice and Luke" he gulped for air "are captured. I escaped after—"

"Janice and Luke?" spoke Rosalee, quickly at attention. "This can't be happening. How could Luke get captured? He's a JEDI for crying out loud!"

Han just panted. They both knew there was simply nothing to be done.

R2 beeped comforting and slowly to Rosie.

"Now, Captain! See your sister now!" laughed the dark man evilly. Amarav was tied to a post by a glowing blue rope. CoCapJanice was lying on the floor in front of her, looking as dead as ever.

"You'll never get away with this, Sean! I'll have YOUR hands tied behind your back when Luke Skywalker shows up!"

"Hahahahahahaha! No, but I have him too!" cried the man, swinging up a green lightsaber into the air.

Amarav frightenedly looked to a metal door slide open and a cage with the Jedi inside, frozen, as if in ice.

"No! This can't be!" she whimpered.

"You've forgotten that your sister has not any superpowers— unlike yourself," he said, most sinisterly, lifting his mask to reveal a young man, with dark hair and eyes, and a surprisingly handsome appearance overall.

Luke became mobile with a startled jerk. As soon as the sudden realization of muscle control returned to him, he held up his hand to grab the lightsaber from Sean, using the force. Successfully, he pulled it into his hand and slit the cage.

"Yes, but have YOU forgotten that I DO?" he hollered, his young voice breaking through the evil spell cast about the room.

"Skywalker! You have no business with me! I am Sean Underwood, the prince of Enstacia!"

"Back away from her!" he yelled, walking nearer and pointing at Amarav.

"And why should I? I have both the power to stun you and to put you to sleep," replied the prince, without the slightest trace of fear in his voice. "She is mine now, and, if you would like to live, why don't you walk on home to your own planet, while I enjoy mine?"

"This is not your planet! Enstacia is your planet!" retorted Skywalker, tossing his lightsaber at Amarav. She cried out in fear, but it only slit her bonds. She quickly rose into the air and blasted Sean Underwood with blue energy balls from her hands. He fell, unconscious, as if he'd just been hit with a bolt of lightning.

"Thanks," said Captain Amarav.

Luke smiled and saluted her as he bent down to retrieve his lightsaber. "You're the Captain."

She smiled back. But then she saw him look pitifully at her sister, still asleep in a cage, helplessly unable to wake herself up.

"I can handle that," said the Captain, floating over to the seemingly unconscious Sean and descending to the ground. She ruffled her hands into his black cape pockets and quickly produced a remote. Studying it a moment, she found she could not read anything on it.

"Luke, the buttons are labeled in another language. I can't read a word of it."

Luke looked disappointed. He strode cautiously over to her and held out his hand. "Let me see it," he said, but doubtfully. When she gave it to him he only wrinkled his brows and frowned at the device.

"There's so many buttons," said Amarav in an annoyed tone.

"Mm. Nothing we can do. I'm sorry, Amarav," said Luke, with some sympathy. "Let's just get her out of here. Now..."

"I can handle that," said the Captain, raising a finger. She floated over to her sister and bent the bars of the cage enough to slip her out. Then she picked her up and examined her. "Where's her lightsaber?"

Luke stopped studying the remote a moment and looked up. "Her lightsaber... she dropped it in the hallway when he put her to sleep. We should go—"

"Yeah, I know," Amarav replied, unwilling to stay any longer in this torture chamber. She grabbed Luke by the back of his shirt collar as if she was grabbing a kitten by its nape. Then she flew speedily out of the room and into the hallway. A dozen guards pointed freeze guns at them when she stopped to scan the area.

"There it is!" both Luke and Amarav cried at the same time. The pronoun they used could have referred to either the lightsaber or the exit.

Amarav flew past the guards and scooped up the flickering blue lightsaber as she swooshed through the exit.


	5. Chapter Five: The Groups Meet Again

**Chapter Five: The Groups Meet Again**

Rosie was pacing again and Han was trying to think of a million terrible plans while he stood in thought.

Suddenly, Amarav flew past them. Luke yelled in protest.

"Wait, Amarav! Han and Rosalee are back there!"

"Well, why didn't you say so?" asked Amarav, as if he should have thought of that before. She retraced her path more carefully and found the two standing by two droids and a Wookiee.

"What are you all doing here, anyway?" inquired Amarav quizzically. "Rosie, didn't I tell you to stay on the ship?"

"Sorry, Amarav," she replied sullenly. "I was looking for you."

"Rosie, if I was in trouble, there'd be nothing you could do. You understand that, right?"

Rosie nodded.

"CoCapJanice!"

All eyes were immediately fixed on the taller of the droids. Rosie rolled hers.

Luke fell from Amarav's grasp and brushed himself off.

"She was put to sleep by a device that controls her nervous system through her spinal cord. We tried to disable it, but we couldn't read... anything on this remote," Luke explained, producing the remote from his pocket. "See Threepio, are you programmed to also READ other languages?"

"Why, yes, certainly. Almost six million, to be exact," he replied.

Luke handed him the remote. "Not 'over six million' like the spoken languages you can understand, right?"

"Well, not all languages have written form," replied the droid absentmindedly as he studied the device he held.

"Look for something that says 'off' or 'turn brain system back on' or 'turn sleep off' or something," said Amarav, as if the button had one of those three labels.

C-3PO didn't seem to notice this comment as he was absorbed with the remote.

"The way the buttons on this remote work, it seems it would take several buttons to give the device a full command. For example:" —he started to say foreign words they did not understand— "would tell the device to 'turn itself off.'"

"Then press it!" Luke and Amarav shouted at the same moment. The droid quickly pressed the sequence of buttons, and the CoCaptain came to. She opened her eyes and immediately noticed two things: one was that she was no longer in the dark hallway; and the other, that the remote with which Sean had put her to sleep was in the hand of C-3PO. With her first movement she fell right out of her sister's clutches. Not seeming to notice at all, she picked herself up and smiled at 3PO.

"High five!"

Apparently droids aren't used to friendly attention. He just stood there as if he wasn't sure how to respond.

The CoCaptain grabbed his arm and slapped her hand to his, knocking the poor droid over.

Captain Amarav stared quizzically at her CoCaptain.

Without prior notice, they were being shot at with great blue blasts of energy. Amarav scooped them all up without a second thought and flew to her ship, tossing them all in and re-airlocking the door.

The next few moments were spent in groans as each person picked themselves up and brushed themselves off.

"How did you do that?" asked Luke in awe.

"Superstrength," replied CapAmarav.

Suddenly, it hit them.

"Where's Uncle Han?" asked Janice.

The spaceship pilot was not among them.

Chewie noticed this immediately and started to cry out and bang on things.

Amarav took charge, as was the normal procedures on that StarShip. She turned to her CoCaptain. "Janice, I'm going to go look for Uncle Han. Stay here and take care of things. If I'm still capable, I'll update you periodically. Hopefully this will be quick. Here's your lightsaber."

Amarav flung the renowned weapon casually to her second in command. Janice jumped to grab it and nodded to her Captain.

Amarav turned to open the hatch, then paused. "Janice."

Janice looked up from her lightsaber.

"See to it that Rosalee doesn't leave the ship."

"Yes, Amarav." Janice grinned and Rosie looked sheepish.

Amarav turned open the airlock and zipped to the planet they hovered over as it shut automatically.

Janice was still smiling and staring absentmindedly at her lightsaber.

"How did you get one of those?" asked Luke, breaking the relative silence. "You can't be a Jedi. I sense very little of the force with you."

Janice turned to face him a moment. "I found it."

She hardly seemed to notice that all eyes were on her.

"I found it. It's— it's mine," she stammered.

"Let me see it," said Luke. She hardly had a choice as he used the force to pull it from her hands.

As Luke examined it, turned it on and slashed it around, and studied it again, his eyes grew wider. "This looks a lot like the one I lost."

"M-my favorite color's green," managed Janice.

Luke glanced back at her. "Are you suggesting that we trade?"

Janice nodded.

Luke sighed. "Alrighty," he said with uncertainty, swinging his green saber to Janice.

Janice grabbed the object and handled it fondly, as if it was something she had known from long ago.

Luke turned the blue saber back on. "Can you fight?"

Janice smiled. "Pretty well. I can't use the force or anything, so you'd have to take it easy on me."

Luke smiled back. "I won't kill you."

Janice laughed and turned her green lightsaber on, swinging it against Luke's. They started to clash them together, Luke always taking the lead and coming close to slicing his opponent several times.

Both the droids stayed to watch their battle ensue. Rosalee stayed for a little while, but then she returned to the cockpit to oversee the ship.

Chewie was still clearly upset about the disappearance of Han Solo.


	6. Chapter Six: Search and Rescue?

**Chapter Six: Search and... Rescue?**

Amarav headed straight back to where they'd been shot at. No sign of the missing pilot gave a clue. She circled the surrounding area multiple times, but still no signal of his whereabouts.

Then she paused to think. What was the most logical place he would be?

"Sean's lair, of course," Amarav thought, holding up a finger. She zoomed to the location.

Janice was lying flat on the floor, a blue lightsaber held to her neck.

"Alright, you win," she admitted in defeat.

"For the fifth time now," he boasted in victory. He stepped back and flipped his lightsaber into the air. "You're not a bad opponent yourself."

Janice picked herself up and smiled at the Jedi. "Thanks."

CoCapJanice went back to her usual duties and checked on the ship. Then she trod to her room in the Starship 2000.

She pressed the palm of her hand against the scanner on the wall. It shone blue, then blinked twice, signaling a beep that triggered her door's opening. It slid open into the left wall, then slid shut as soon as she was fully inside.

Amarav burst a hole through the door of the Amrandian base, currently serving as a lair for her worst enemy. It was dark now, and no one was to be seen. She let down her fists and floated cautiously toward the secret entrance, now repaired and shut off. But as soon as she looked at that wall, she was suddenly trapped within a forcefield. Then the secret entrance disappeared, as if a hologram, to reveal her greatest fear.

And he was holding Han's radio communicator.

After finishing his duel with the CoCaptain, Luke had retreated to overseeing the Jr. CoCaptain at the control center. Rosie was staring intently at something below them.

"What's that?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I think it may be an enemy ship," she replied with a ring of certainty.

"How can you NOT be sure? Where's the radar?"

"I don't know. The object is shown to be 'unknown' on the ship's radar. That means we've never encountered it and the ship hasn't a clue what it is."

"It's big," stated Luke.

"It wouldn't show up on our radar if it didn't have a certain magnitude," Rosie replied.

Luke looked serious. He quickly pulled a writing instrument and a paper from his back pocket and scribbled a note. It gave a satisfying crinkle as he held it out to the droid hovering over his shoulder.

C-3PO looked at it briefly. "What? Take this to CoCaptain Janice?"

R2 beside him beeped. He glanced back at the note.

"Here, you take it then," said 3PO, shoving it at R2-D2.

R2 beeped slowly and shook his head.

Janice heard a slow tap. tap. tap. She glanced up from what she was writing and looked curiously at the door.

"Come... in?"

The door slid open and R2 was holding up a piece of paper with a mechanical arm.

"Oh." Janice got up and stepped over to him. He held up the note as far as he could when Janice hesitated to grab it.

"Alright, alright, don't hurt yourself," she muttered, and snatched the note. She unfolded it and glanced at it. Looking up quickly, she saw the droid roll slowly away, beeping gruffly. Then she rushed toward the door. "Wait!"

The door shut right in front of her face.

"Open!" she said loudly and rather impatiently.

The door slid back open and she rushed out.

"It's getting closer," said Luke as he watched the radar.

"I see," replied Rosalee. It was the thing to say at the moment. "We should alert the CoCaptain."

She raised her hand to press a button, but Luke stopped her.

"No need for that; I have it covered," he said. Rosie was a little surprised when her sister came darting from the hallway only seconds later.

"What's up? Did I miss something?"

They all jerked when a loud "pshew" sounded and a red laser blast filled the main screen. Alerts and buttons were flashing warning colors of red and yellow.

"We've been hit!" Rosalee called.

"They're targeting us again!" shouted Trevor.

"CoCaptain, shall I give the order?" asked a crew member of higher status.

"Yes, Blake! Return fire!"

All weapons engineers quickly did so. The opposing ship took a hit, but it still continued to fire. They could see it clearly now: it looked a lot like a giant robot, twice the size of the Starship 2000, but its arms were folded in. It had a silvery black texture.

They were close now. Sophia reported major damage to lower shields, but no penetration, no casualties. They were lucky.

"Rosalee, shut off the power to the second and third floors and put the extra shields on the front," ordered her only present superior.

"But Janice—"

"I said do it!"

The ship rocked again. All the lights shut off momentarily. Then a few emergency lights switched on.

"That plan's out," said Luke with boredom. Janice glared. Trevor and the other weapons engineers continued to fire.

R2 started beeping suddenly, and C-3PO was about to translate when Rosie perked up.

"Janice, we have the bostanite!"

"What? How?" Janice looked confused.

"Show her, Artoo!" Rosie hollered over the beeping.

R2 held up the container. He beeped a little more when Janice snatched it. Then she shoved it back toward him. "Artoo, melt this and dump it into the shield fluid over on the third floor," she instructed. "You'll need this." And she handed him a small chip the size of a postage stamp. He rolled off toward the elevator, his partner trailing close behind.

"Sometimes I just can't take all this excitement," said 3PO. Both of them looked a little eerie in the dim light.

R2 chirped back as the elevator door shut.

"Don't you think you oughtta keep an eye on those two?" Sophia questioned Janice.

She shook her head. "I trust them. Artoo's the brightest droid I know, and Threepio..."

Janice halted her speech and seemed quite pensive, as if wondering how to describe him. Sophia had a quizzical expression.

"He's pretty smart too, I guess."

Trevor halted his fire. "CoCaptain, our short-range missiles are forty-one percent depleted. Shall we continue to fire?"

Janice turned to him and nodded. "Yes, but once the missiles are half gone, start using the lasers."

Trevor was about to reply, but Blake stepped in between them. "CoCaptain, the use of the lasers would severely deplete our power. We should use the bombs instead."

Janice blinked. "Save the jay bombs. Use the target bombs."

"Yes, CoCaptain," saluted Blake. He often advised the young Captain and CoCaptain, if you haven't read the other adventures of the Starship 2000 and the origin of it. (Not that I've published them, or even finished them yet, of course. :) )

The two droids arrived at the third floor, strolling to the end of a hallway and turning to a door labeled "SHIELDS AND WEAPONRY. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY."

R2 slid the chip easily into the scanner and picked it out as the door opened. The room was lit dimly now that the power had gone out, and it had a suspicious glow. R2 wheeled toward the center of the room, following the faint blue glow to a tall, transparent tube, capped with a metal disc. It looked like it had been thrown and stuck into the floor, because it was tilted quite a bit. R2 pulled another mechanical arm from himself. Instead of having fingers, this one was hollow and was shaped more like a screwdriver at its tip.

"What is— THAAAT!" C-3PO jumped back as fire shot from the hole at the tip. Nearly simultaneously, the ship shook, harder than it had before, and tilted sharply, flinging C-3PO into the wall and sending the smaller robot hurtling after him. They collided with a painful sounding crash of steel arms and legs and dented metal. 3PO groaned.

R2-D2 picked himself up and rolled with extra force against the incline. Opening the canister, he stuck the fire-breathing arm into it and flared it up. The metal gave a dangerous sounding sizzle as it melted into itself, almost instantly. By then he had reached the tube, and he poured the small amount into it, dropping the lid shut. The blue light turned green and reflected off the droid a little more eerily.

Janice saw a green light flash on the control panel and she leaned to look at it.

"The bostanite has been safely placed into the shield fluid," she stated. Rosie smiled.

"Artoo's such a great droid, isn't he?"

Janice smiled back. Another blast rocked the ship.

"Minor damage to shields," reported Sophia. "One percent down from 33 for the frontal shields."

There were whoopings and whistles and cheers all around.

"Way to go, Artoo!" Rosie cheered.

"Maybe we'll actually outlast this thing," remarked the CoCaptain.

"We've got thirty-two more hits if it keeps dropping at that rate," smirked Luke, who had been sitting back silently watching the screen for some time.

Janice looked bored again.

"Why don't you go... mmm... play with your lightsaber? Somewhere else?"

Luke stood up and put his hand on his hilt. "Why are you annoyed with me so suddenly?"

Rosie looked from one to the other. "Oh dear..."

Sean Underwood stood the deck of his ship.

"They actually think they can beat me?"

He laughed an evil, low bellow and he paced by Amarav, still stuck in a forcefield.

Amarav sighed and glared heroically at the floor.

"Even if they did beat me, (which they won't, of course)," he jeered, "they'd take their own Captain down! Ha! The irony!"

He let out another set of evil laughter, not noticing the small tug at the corner of Amarav's lips.

But Han Solo was nowhere to be seen.


	7. Chapter Seven: Threatened by the Truth

**Chapter Seven: Threatened by the Truth**

"Rrrr!" Janice growled as Luke finished another lightsaber duel victoriously.

"Ha!"

"Fine, you're the winner. But I swear you used the force twice during that round."

"Did not!" he argued playfully. They both laughed.

"Janice, Janice, there's a transmission from the bad ship!" Rosie yelled out suddenly.

Janice and Luke walked quickly over to the dash panel. Looking up at the giant screen, Janice quickly pressed a button that turned on the transmission.

"Hello, Co-brat Janice," greeted Sean with an arrogant smirk.

Janice flared. "How dare you address me—!"

"I have your sister," he interrupted. "Attack our ship now, and she'll be dead before you can say 'Asgard.'"

The screen swiveled to show Amarav contained helplessly within the standard issue of a forcefield cage.

"Daggers!" Janice muttered as the transmission ended.

"What are we supposed to do now?" asked Luke.

"Rescue her," answered Janice seriously.

"I am not going into that... thing! to save a Captain who just can't keep himself out of—"

"Excuse me?!"

Luke sighed and rolled his eyes. _"Herself,"_ he corrected, more calmly now. "Amarav can't keep herself out of trouble. Why go and fix a ship right before you crash it?"

"CoCaptain, there's another ship approaching," informed Andrea.

The screen showed the words: "The Millennium Falcon."

Han Solo had, apparently, NOT been with them after they escaped the Amrandians shooting blue energy at them. He had gone off back to find his own ship, not realizing the others hadn't followed.

"Now where did I leave that old girl?" he said under his breath, trying to backtrack his way to the Millennium Falcon. Of course, we all know Han wouldn't forget that he had piloted the ship to the planet and he would certainly not leave it behind.

He finally came across it and exclaimed, "There you are! My gleaming little jewel of the jungle!"

It looked old and rickety.

Han got inside, so enamored with the object, that he forgot completely about the others. He started tinkering here and there, then he pressed a bunch of buttons and pulled several levers until the thing powered up.

He took off toward the sky, unknowing of the task about to befall him.

"Han Solo!" exclaimed Janice. "It's him, I know it is!"

Janice immediately contacted the Falcon. "Uncle Han, we're here! But Sean has Amarav!"

Han Solo maneuvered toward the StarShip 2000. "Nice. That sister of yours seems to have a fondness for being captured, doesn't she?"

It wasn't untrue. That was pretty obvious.

Janice sighed. "Can you help us?" she asked politely.

Static.

"Look, I'm sorry for being such a troublemaker back on Delta Centauri," she said. "And running away."

"Yeah, you got me in pretty big trouble with your mother, you know that? I got ten thousand less than she promised 'cause of you."

Luke blinked. And Han never told him any of this before...

Janice smirked. "You were a pretty lousy babysitter, though."

Han smiled. "Yeah, give or take a few months."

More static.

"Alright, I'll help out. So, what was it you wanted again?"

Han did NOT want to go on another rescue mission to save some princess who probably wouldn't even compensate him for his effort. "Had to be a princess..." he muttered to himself, stepping quietly through the halls of the Starship 3000, blaster drawn and ready. Sean seemed to have a lack of security, he thought to himself. He wandered through the halls and moved from the second level to the third after finding out he was on the storage floor. "She's in the main control room," was his instructions. Brilliant. It would be as easy as cake to get her right out from under the angry glare of that Sean guy.

But it was just the guy he thought might be the death of him that would make the trip even more profitable.

Han suddenly found the control room. He was shocked to find it completely unguarded. He was even more shocked to find it so easily unlocked. Unbolted. Unsecured.

Was this a trap? He wasn't so dull as to walk right into the main control room, where there was sure to be inhabitants, grab the princess, and walk out. Was he?

Whatever he might have been thinking, he dismissed all thoughts of caution and pressed his hand against the control to open the door.

The door slid open vertically.

Sean had just gloated to CoCaptain Janice herself about Amarav's capture. He had ended the transmission abruptly, not because it would heighten the sense of alarm in their minds, but because he had been interrupted by another incoming call, although it did seem to serve both purposes. He picked up the call and was awkwardly surprised to find it was his mother. He startled backward at the shock. "M-mother!"

"Sean! Oh sweetie, we— who is that?!" she asked, horrified by the sight of Amarav's slight figure standing dejectedly within the transparent forcefield cage.

"Mother... it's um... the princess. Of Farlovelle."

"Farlovelle!" his mother pronounced with utter distaste. "Son, this is unacceptable! You must never be with this girl; just look at her! Pitiful, pitiful I tell you!"

"But mother..."

They were arguing for quite some time. Amarav soon grew tired of the insults they were casting against her and stopped listening to the conversation.

She was instead paying attention to the strange taps in the outside hallway. Something was strangely familiar over there...

The door slid open vertically. There Han Solo stood like a stone, with a look as if he'd just been caught stealing a cookie from his grandmother's cookie jar.

Sean whirled around, reflecting his stupefied expression.

Han recovered from the shock and gathered together his last shreds of confidence. "I'm here for the princess."

"''"Princess? Ha! Then you won't have her!"

"Nonsense, my darling!" cried his mother on the screen behind him. "Let him have her!"

"Mother, please! You know nothing of my evil plot!" he protested, turning back to face the screen.

"I know enough to see that the girl is not fit for a great prince like my son. There will be no alliance."

While they bickered, Solo crept up to Amarav and searched with haste for a way to unbind her.

Her eyes grew wide as he walked up and she looked as if she were about to exclaim something, but he put his finger to his lips and continued scanning the area.

Amarav kept her mouth shut.


	8. Chapter Eight: No Objections?

**Chapter Eight: No Objections?**

"I'm worried about Han," Janice confided to Luke as they sat in the brightly-lit break room lined wall-to-wall with white tables and chairs. They sat across from each other at a far corner table about forty feet from the food replicator.

Janice was holding a white mug with a handle that, on one end, didn't quite adjoin to the rest of the mug, and Luke was sipping from a thin white cup.

Luke set the cup down on the table to reply. "Don't worry," he said. "We've gotten out of worse scrapes than this. If I know Han, I'd say he'll be back before you even know it."

"But what if you're wrong?" Janice tried not to show the fear in her eyes for her sister. She didn't entirely trust Han's rescuing capabilities.

"I'm not," he reassured, "and if I was, I'm sure you could forgive me." He took another sip, eyes fixed on Janice.

"It's not you I'd have to forgive," she said forlornly, looking downward.

He set down his glass. "Hey," he attempted to console, nudging her chin up with his half-clenched fist, "it's not your fault."

She half-smiled, letting the gentle touch linger, then sat upright. "I appreciate your sympathy," she said in a mature tone, "but I must admit it _is_ partially my fault. I should have cautioned her not to go back to Sean's lair, except..." Janice frowned off to one side and wrinkled her brows. "What _was_ I doing?" she asked, looking up at Luke.

"Dueling me," he answered simply.

Janice froze. "That's right... I was, wasn't I?" She shifted her eyes from him to the floor and back, slowly. Blinked once. Blinked twice. Leaned forward in the slightest, irresistibly drawn by that kind, smiling face of his. Swallowed.

But this couldn't be right, she thought. She couldn't love _him_... not now. She'd sworn never to love. But, still... it _was_ kind of an unreasonable oath, considering the human fallacies. Weakness. Disadvantage. It was a curse, really, to be drawn to love. It _was_ a curse.

And it never failed.

It wasn't failing now.

Yet, fate would have its way, as C-3PO fortunately sauntered right into the room at that precise moment, before Luke and Janice would have the chance to try anything.

"Janice! CoCaptain Janice! Thank goodness! I've been searching _all over_ for you! We've received word from Han Solo. He's returning on the Millennium Falcon with your sister."

"Amarav!" Janice cried, leaping up and bumping the chair backwards. "Yes!"

Luke apparently shared her enthusiasm. "Woohoo!" he yelled, jumping up and embracing Janice as if they'd just won the lottery.

While Janice and Luke were ecstatically jumping around in the break room of the StarShip 2000, Han was piloting the Millennium Falcon back toward Amarav's ship.

"Can't believe they just let you go like that, kid," rambled Solo. "Things like this don't happen just every day, you know?"

"Maybe they do," she replied smartly, "we just don't know about it."

He chuckled, just happy to be out unscathed. "Well, princess, I'm going to expect some compensation."

"Expect what you will," she responded, with an air of haughtiness, "but you hardly did a thing."

"I saved your life!"

" _They_ let me go!"

"Aw, come on! If I hadn't been there, that Sean guy would've had some sort of excuse for keepin' ya. I'm tellin' you, I saved your life."

"Fine." Amarav hesitated, then added, "You know, you didn't have to blast him, Solo."

Han grinned slightly. "What?" he said with a pretense of innocence. "It's not like I hurt him or anything! I just stunned 'im long enough to getcha outta there."

Amarav rolled her eyes. "Oh please... enough with the heroics already."

The Millennium Falcon arrived on the landing platform of the StarShip 2000. Luke, Janice, and Rosalee stood just inside to greet them.

"Amarav!" Rosie cried.

"Hey, Rosie!" she answered. They hugged briefly.

"Welcome back, buddy," Luke said to Han.

"Thanks for your help, Han," said Janice with gratitude.

"Don't mention it," he replied, happy to be appreciated.

Amarav sniffed the air with a regal presence and cleared her throat. "CoCaptain, here is the prized bostanite we've been searching for," she said, holding up a large container she pulled from the ship. "A gift from Enstacia."

"The bostanite!" Janice stood awestruck at the metallic substance. "Yes, Amarav! We can return to Delta Centauri, now! Our mission is complete!"

"Yay!" Rosalee cried, jumping for joy. "Amarav, you did it!"

" _We_ did it," Janice modified, smiling at her younger sister.

Han suddenly perked up. "Hey, where's Chewie?"

Janice looked slightly sheepish. "Um, we're sorry Han, but he was getting a little out of hand." They began to pace back toward the main deck. "Attacked several officers, injured my copilot... anyways, we had to keep him in the containment room. My apologies, truly."

She walked two doors down the main hall toward the containment room, used for the occasional prisoner the ship might have to confine. She unbolted the door and, to her slight surprise, the Wookiee was quietly sitting facing a corner, face in hands and whimpering. He looked up when he heard the voice of Han Solo.

"Chewie! Come here, ya little furball!"

Chewie immediately complied, almost knocking his friend over.

"It's all right, I'm fine," he consoled, motioning with his eyes for the others to leave.

The other four left without any objections.


	9. Chapter Nine: Hesitations

**Chapter Nine: Hesitations**

"So, I guess we're leaving," stated Luke with a hint of inquiry, glancing briefly at Janice's sisters and then turning fully to her.

"No! I mean, why? Why should you guys be leaving so... soon?" she stammered, becoming red-faced trying to curb her frustration over letting this opportunity slip through her grasp.

Opportunity for what? She wasn't sure. She just knew that their departure was taking something away from her.

Luke noted the CoCaptain's unusual awkwardness. Just as he drew breath to intervene, Amarav's next comment halted him. "Nono, we'll be leaving soon," she ejected. "Now that Sean has graciously provided us with his bostanite—" she said this with a sarcastic smirk "—we can return home to our old planet of Delta Centauri."

Even Luke looked a little disappointed at Janice.

"I don't think a few days would hurt," managed Janice, trying to think of something to prevent their allies from leaving.

"Yeah!" Rosie chimed. "They can stay!"

Amarav half-grinned. "All right, but let me see what Blake has to say."

The teenage captain paraded with authoritativeness back down the hall.

Janice turned from Amarav to Luke and then realized how much she didn't want to be here.

"Uhh... excuse me a minute," she said quickly, walking to her room before any objections could be made.

Janice let the door shut behind her and threw herself back upon her queen bed, hands folded behind her head. She sighed deeply and shut her eyelids a moment, mentally pleading for a clear head. "This isn't right," she thought to herself, "this clearly isn't right."

In all her efforts to prevent the cloud of romantic thoughts from overtaking her, she was finally left with a state of overheated frustration, during which her face turned a bright pink and she tossed and turned quite a bit.

"Urrrghh..." she growled, then she'd let out a soft groan.

Nothing seemed to help, so she finally pulled the plug on whatever was triggering the whim.

She soon found herself in a peaceable state of mind, save the urge to squeeze something to death.

Then she immediately got up, unable to resist the murderous impulse any longer, and left the room.

"Blake said they shouldn't stay too long, since it would hinder us from a return trip to DC," reported the Junior CoCaptain to her sister the CoCaptain, who seemed hopelessly blanked out on the Jedi pacing nearby.

"Helloooo... Janice... Earth to Janice..."

"Hunh?!" Janice blurted, feeling awkward at the realization of what she'd been doing.

Rosie's eyes narrowed with some annoyance. "I said, Blake said that our friends can't stay very long, because it would prevent us from reaching Delta Centauri with any speed," she repeated, eyes suspiciously shifting to Luke in mid-sentence.

"Oh," said her sister, a small jab for her to continue.

Rosie blinked. "He says they can stay until tomorrow, then they should go."

"Kay," replied Janice, making a slow beeline for Luke.

Rosie threw her arms up and stalked out of the break room.

Luke noticed her approaching him and faced her, only to be greeted by a tight squeeze. Janice smiled and held him close, then released him.

Luke's jaw dropped, and he blinked at her, then recovered.

"Sorry," Janice said shyly, looking down at a shuffling foot.

Luke blinked again, the thought of what had just happened still registering. "No, it's okay,"''" he comforted, nudging her chin up like he'd done before.

Janice allowed herself to yield to the irresistible temptation of leaning forward the three inches and giving him a peck on the lips.

Han walked into the end of the break room closest to them, immediately noticing the two staring at each other with dazed expressions, leaning close.

Then _they_ noticed _him_ and parted, both suddenly staring at him.

"Hey, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," he said, innocently raising his hands back.

"It's fine, Han," shot Janice quickly, afraid he might leave. She glanced briefly at Luke, then trod toward where Han was getting himself a mug of coffee. She stood by him and helped herself to a nice Farlovellian roast, then went and sat down where she had prior.

Han sat down across from her, but Luke was staring at his feet, which seemed to be frozen where he'd stood when Janice hugged him.

"So," said Han, striking a conversation, "I hear we're leaving tomorrow."

Luke perked up.

"Yes, unfortunately," said Janice, unable to suppress a wistful glance at Luke as she took a sip of her coffee.

Han looked with big eyes at Luke, then back to Janice. "Why unfortunately? I'll be glad to get back to tweakin' the Falcon and hangin' out with Leia."

Janice moved her glance quickly back to Han. "Well, um..." she cleared her throat "...it's just that I..."''" she cleared her throat again "...it's just that we really like you guys. It's hard to leave sometimes, I guess."

Luke blinked at Janice, then came and sat down catty-corner to Han.

Han continued to face Janice. "You know, you could come and stay with us. If you want to, I mean, I'm not tryin' 'a—"

"Nono, it's okay," she interrupted, feeling awkward at the way he was stumbling over his words. "We have to get back to Delta Centauri."

Han set down his mug. "What's with 'Delta Centauri,' anyway?" he asked.

"It's our home planet!" Janice snapped.

Han's eyebrows raised. "Okay, but somethin' tells me you don't wanna go there,"''" he responded, with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

"It doesn't matter," she snapped again. "It doesn't matter what I want. We go back tomorrow, and that is that."


	10. Chapter Ten: And That is That (Wrap Up)

**Chapter Ten: And That is That (Wrap Up)**

Janice sat once again on her bed. She was upset, and, subconsciously, she knew why, but nothing in the galaxy was going to make her admit it to herself.

Except Luke, that is.

Absent from everything but her own inward struggle, she failed to notice a soft tap on the door.

"Janice?" Luke called through the door.

Janice snapped out of her imagination and stared wide-eyed at the door a moment before quickly commanding the computer to open it.

Luke stood in the doorway and frowned thoughtfully at her pitiful state. "What's wrong, Janice?" he asked.

Janice was too startled to sigh. This meeting had not been on her to-do list. She looked back down at the floor.

Instead of coming in and intruding on Janice's personal space, Luke held up his palm and used the force to lift her chin. He was rewarded with the feedback of a slight smile from Janice.

"Listen to your feelings," was all he said.

Janice suddenly rushed across the room to hug him. "Okay," she whispered, with a resonance of finality.

Amarav looked quickly right, then left. She had a funny feeling tonight, and it wasn't going away.

Sitting up in her bed, she furtively considered what the problem might be.

" _Hm,"_ she thought, _"I feel like something is happening, but I don't know what."_

Unfortunately, poor Amarav wouldn't know for another eleven years.

Somewhere in the remote distance, King Demetrius and Queen Lacy of Farlovelle sat across from King Sharuft and Prince Sean of Enstacia, who looked sulkingly off to one side, while his father reviewed his section of the treaty.

"I take it that this means you won't attack our people anymore," stated Queen Lacy, a bit of hesitant disdain in her usually sweet tone of voice.

King Sharuft looked up from the papers. "No, we will not," he stated simply.

Queen Lacy shifted uncomfortably. "Why?" she asked, with some naivety.

"Because otherwise this war will come to no end," he answered her, some annoyance bristling.

Farlovelle's king Demetrius then intervened. "Lacy, this is what we all need."

"Of course, honey, but I was just wondering why they'd do this at all. I thought we were still at war."

Sean then spoke, without turning to face them. "My mother didn't approve," he grumbled.

Lacy paused, then nodded her acknowledgment. "I agree with her."

The next morning on the Starship 2000, it was time for their allies to go. The three Lunova sisters, Chewbacca and Han Solo, and R2-D2, C-3PO, and Luke Skywalker were all gathered on the StarShip 2000's landing platform, next to the Millennium Falcon.

"Thanks for all your help," said Amarav to the group.

"It wasn't a problem," said Luke, smiling.

"Yeah, no problem for _you_ ," said Han. "I did a lot of the work too, ya know."

"Yes, well," said Janice, smiling at Han. "We are most grateful for all your efforts."

Han dipped his head.

Rosie patted R2 and said, "Bye, Artoo. I hope we'll see you again someday."

R2 chirped cordially.

Chewie cocked his head slightly before they turned to go, R2-D2 and C-3PO following obediently behind.

"If you ever need us, we're just a couple of lightyears away," said Luke, smiling at them as he turned to go.

Janice hesitated a half a second, then cried "Wait!" as she ran up to Luke to hug him again.

"Luke..." she said quietly. Then she drew back slightly and whispered something in his ear.

Luke smiled, and, laughing, said, "But _you_ don't even have the force yet!"

She smiled back at him and replied, "I'd find a way."

They both exchanged knowing smiles a moment, then parted ways, possibly never to meet again.

Or possibly _to_ meet again.

Janice never could tell.


End file.
